Additional Psychological Effects

Additional Psychological Effects

            While there is no research to support that early maternal loss causes women to experience psychological disorders, it is no secret that among motherless daughters, some disorders are common. Anxiety, depression, and trauma-based disorders were the most often mentioned in my research.

 Feelings of Anxiety

            As a disorder, there is not much research about anxiety in motherless daughters. Instead, motherless daughters have a tendency to experience feelings of generalized  fear and anxiety. Pill and Zabin cite that these women experience a “pervasive sense” that the “world is unsafe” (1997, p. 189). The researchers also suggest a heightened sense of fearing rejection or abandonment, which may contribute to the social difficulties previously mentioned. Another potential fear for these woman revolves around the deaths of other loved ones. The motherless daughter has an unrealistic fear for her other loved ones after losing her mother, and perhaps even for her own health. Edelman gives the following narrative about her experience: “Potential… this critical word here. It’s not certainty we’re frightened of. It’s what might happen” (2006, p. 110).

I personally suffer from an anxiety disorder, but I cannot say that my mother’s death caused it. I was anxious long before she passed away. My anxiety is likely a mix of experience and genetics, but regardless, I identify strongly with these claims. If I cannot get a hold of my grandma one night, I am convinced that she is dead. When I get a phone call at 2 AM, I answer with, “Who died?” The fear of another personal death is written in my body like DNA. It is a constant, irrational fear that I cannot shake. I probably never will.

Depression

According to Edelman, researchers have attempted to find correlation between depression and the loss of a parent (2006, p. 126).  Such link was not found. It is common to expect excessive grief with any personal loss, but depression is not the same as strong grief. Instead, the link between maternal loss and depression lies in how well the father deals with the grief and how he supports his daughter through this time. Israeli psychology expert Tamar Granot says that the “most important external influence on the emotional state of the child… is the parent who raises him” (as cited in Edelman, 2006, 127).

Trauma

            Both Edelman and the Pill and Zabin study indicate the role of trauma in maternal loss. Pill and Zabin indicate that maternal loss is a traumatic event. They cite that early maternal loss effects are “strikingly similar” to those of “psychological trauma” (1997, p. 182). Furthermore, they indicate that this trauma can rewire the way the brain thinks about a sense of self and others. Edelman analyzes loss for the daughter who was somehow physically involved in the death of her mother and how that impacts her interpretation of the loss. The women in Edelman’s research that suffered from post-traumatic stress lost their mothers via homicide or car accident, violent and sudden events.